Punjab District Bhakkar Profile Summary General Knowledge

The district of Bhakkar derives its name from the district headquarters town probably named after Bhakkar Khan alias Bhako, one of the early settlers. The Bhakkar district was created in 1982 after slicing the area from district Mianwali of which it was a part as a sub-division. Besides sub-division Bhakkar, sub-divisions Kallurkot and Mankera were also established to constitute the new district. Moreover, Darya Khan has been carved out as independent Tehsil or sub-division from Bhakkar sub-division in the wake of the re-shuffling of newly created district.

Its area consists of river ine tract along the Indus called Kacha and the Thal historically called Chol-e-Jalali. Most of its area comprises greater Thal. Mankera in centre of The Great Thal is a place of great antiquity. The old fort here; a historical heritage, is a great land mark of Thal needs preservation. Another old place in the district is Kallurkot. Bakhar is part of Seraiki Wasaib

Important Places

The town has some historical places like the Dilkusha Bagh which is believed by some to be a Mughal garden built by Humayun, however Humayun never visited the area, on his retreat to Iran, he went to another Bakhar in Sindh to seek help from Mahmood Khan, which was however denied by historian Henry Raverty.The old town was walled and had the Tavela, Imamanwala and King Gates, of the three the King Gate, which was built during the British period and was named after Mr. King the then Deputy Commissioner of the Mianwali District, survives - since the end of colonial rule it has been renamed as the Jinnah GateThere are remains of a handera (tomb) near Sheikh Rao bridge, which is believed to be the burial place of Bakhar Khan, the founder of the city. The present police station was originally a Baloch fortress. Some 30 years ago a branch of River Indus flowed past the town. West side of the town was green and pleasant.

Tehsil Bhakkar is one of the four tehsils of district Bhakkar. It spreads over an area of 2,427 square kilometres with a population of 424,488 (as per DCR 1998).

It is bounded on north by Mianwali district, on the east by Khushab and Jhang districts. On the south lies district Layyah and on the west is Dera Ismail Khan district with river Indus in between these two districts.